The new house has a full basement with very high ceilings so we are planning to make part of it into a training area. The floor is poured cement, so we're obviously going to need to put something down on it to protect the dogs' legs/joints.

I have started pricing padding... WOW! talk about expensive (though the vet bills will be more, I know)

Has anyone ever priced padding? any ideas on suppliers? We're going to need about 700 square feet. My dream floor would be the 1/2" thick rubber matting like what is used in horse stalls, but that is more than $2 a square foot.

Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.

When we got mats for our kennel, we got 1" thick livestock mats. Try equine supply places. They were very pricey.
One possibility, I observed an ice skating rink remodeling, and they were throwing out yards of rubber matting. Their suppliers may be less expensive.

The Facility where I train (K9 Performance in Reading, MA) has an excellent rubber floor. I remember someone (Michelle I think) asking about reasonably priced rubber floors. So I asked the owner, John Johnston about his. It turns out it is rubber roofing material. He got a single piece (50'x125') for $900. It's strong enough to have handled dogs being posted in one corner over the course of several years w/no damage. He has felt carpet padding underneath it. He said the only drawback was it was very heavy when installing it, as it is just one piece.

I am looking for rubber flooring for my basement that won't break the bank. Can you get info, Leslie on where he got it from? the space I want to floor is small (525 sq. feet) and so far all the quotes I have gotten are over $2000 with materials and shipping. I do NOT want to spend that much.

It's held-up remarkably well so far and we've had it since last spring. Very few nail marks and no "nicks" taken out of the foam. I think we bought it at Lowe's.

I have my whole basement done with those now. They were fine for Vicki as she is very light on her feet, but once I stated working with Solomon down there, he very quickly started kicking them up, especially when I play ball with him or with the flirtpole

These are some quotes I got for flooring...I also got a sample of a 3/8" 'Elephant Bark' from Rubber Cal (http://www.rubbercal.com). It's really nice but I'm not sure I want to spend that much. The space I am flooring is oblong... 35' by 15'.
with shipping and pallet fee, the 3/8" floor was $2005.
The 1/4" was 1325.
The flooring is heavy...the 3/8 roll is roughly 350 pounds for my area, so you can opt out on the sealant and used double sided sealing tape (which is what I would do...sealant adds another $400 onto the total cost).

Another quote came from rbrubber (http://www.rbrubber.com) they have 4' by 6' mats that come in 3/4" and 1/2" thicknesses.
For the area I need, the 3/4" w/shipping would be about $1,000 and the 1/2" would be about $900.

There is one more place based in Michigan I am going to call, then I am going to decide if I want to really go through with this

I really liked the sample they sent me...the rubber is very thick and virtually scratch proof. I had to compromise though...no way at this time I am plunking down almost $2000 to do the whole basement. I don't plan on being here forever, and I'm not sure if that would be a huge selling point if I decide to sell my house and potential buyers don't have dogs.

So I measured off an area that covers the main traffic area that I work the dogs on...it wound up being 8'x32'...plenty of room for me to set up weaves and a couple jumps, and to give Solomon room for quick turns and jumps on the flirt pole.

I'm 'only' going to need 11 sheets...they are 100 pounds each I have NO idea how I'm going to drag them down the basement when they drop them off...I guess I'll have to bribe my neighbor to help by frying up a bunch of chicken for him

And if I move, by God, I want all 1100 pounds of matting to go with me. I'm not going to seal it to the floor, just lay it on top of my existing rubber mats...at 100 pounds each, I won't have to worry about them sliding or buckling at all.